Metanoia

I was at Sunday evening mass and Father mentioned "Metanoia", a greek word meaning to turn around. It suddenly dawned upon me that we are well into the season of Lent. I was aware that this is the season of Lent but somehow I find that I am not preparing myself for Metanoia.

Life is hard enough that we should have to deal with difficult people and situations. It seems that kind and wonderful people, joyful and blessed situations seem to be the odd occurrence instead of the norm. I have found myself in many situations that have triggered a response that on hindsight is ugly and unkind. As I dwell and reflect on Father's message of metanioa, I pray that God will strengthen me in my daily living, to have the awareness and ability identify unkind situations and respond in a Christ-light manner. It is Lent and we are called to turn from our old ways and embrace God's
ways.

I was drawn to a story that Father shared in his homily. He shared about a young lady who was going for a simple operation and requested for Father to listen to her confession. When Father arrived at the hospital, she was on her way to the operating table. Although Father wanted to have the confession prior to her operation, she waved Father away and said that it can wait till after the operation. Unforunately, she never made it out of the operation. Opportunities are there for us to return to God, to turn from our evil ways. We have to grab them and not wait till another day, because that day might not come.

God is always waiting for us to return to Him. He never gives up on us. It is time for us to turn back to Him. I pray for the strength to do that, strength for metanoia. I pray the same for you.